PROTECTIVE RELAYS

➢ The modern power system is very complex and even though protective equipmens form 4 to 5% of the total
cost involved in the system, they play a very important role in the system design for good quality of reliable
supply.

➢ The protective relays do not eliminate the possibility of faults on the system, rather their action starts only after
the fault has occurred on the system.
➢ There are two groups of relaying equipment for protecting any equipment:
1. Primary relaying equipment.
2. Back-up relaying equipment.

➢ Primary relaying is the first line of defence for protecting the equipments whereas the back-up protection
relaying works only when the primary relaying equipment fails which means back-up relaying is inherently
slow in action. Primary relaying may fail because of failure of any of the following:
(i) Protective relays (moving mechanism etc.).
(ii) Circuit breaker.
(iii) D.C. tripping voltage supply.
(iv) Current or voltage supply to the relays.
 FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROTECTIVE RELAY
➢ A protective relay is required to satisfy four basic functional
characteristics:
(i) reliability,
(ii) selectivity,
(iii) speed,
(iv) sensitivity.

Reliability: The relay should be reliable is a basic requirement. It must operate when it is required. There are various
components which go into operation before a relay operates.

Selectivity: It is the basic requirement of the relay in which it should be possible to select which part of the system is
faulty and which is not and should isolate the faulty part of the system from the healthy one.

Speed: A protective relay must operate at the required speed. It should neither be too slow which may result in
damage to the equipment, nor should it be too fast which may result in undesired operation during transient faults.

Sensitivity: A relay should be sufficiently sensitive so that it operates reliably when required under the actual
conditions in the system which produce the least tendency for operation.
OPERATING PRINCIPLE
Basically there are two different operating principles of relays:
(i) electromagnetic attraction,
and (ii) electromagnetic induction.
TORQUE PRODUCTION IN AN INDUCTION RELAY
Fig:1. Phasor Diagram for an Induction Relay
➢ The flux φ1 will interact with eddy current i2 and φ2 will interact with i1 and since φ2 is leading φ1 the torque
due to φ2 and i1 will be reckoned as positive whereas that due to φ1 and i2 as negative.
➢ The resultant torque is
OVERCURRENT RELAY
Depending upon the time of operation the relays are categorized as:
(i) Instantaneous overcurrent relay,
(ii) Inverse time-current relay,
(iii) Inverse definite minimum time (IDMT) overcurrent relay,
(iv) Very inverse relay,
(v) Extremely inverse relay.

(i) Instantaneous over-current relay is one in which no intentional time delay is provided for the operation. The time of
operation of such relays is approximately 0.1 sec.
(ii) Inverse time-current relay is one in which the operating time reduces as the actuating quantity increases in
magnitude.
(iii) Inverse definite minimum time over-current relay is one in which the operating time is approximately inversely
proportional to the fault current near pick up value and becomes substantially constant slightly above the pick up
value of the relay.
(iv) Very inverse relay is one in which the saturation of the core occurs at a later stage, is known as very inverse
characteristic. The time-current characteristic is inverse over a greater range and after saturation tends to definite time.

(v) Extremely inverse relay is one in which the saturation occurs at a still later stage
Fig:2. Characteristics of Over-current Relays: (a) Definite time, (b) IDMT (c) Very Inverse (d) Extremely Inverse
Example 14.1: Determine the time of operation of a relay of rating 5 amps, 2.2 sec IDMT and having a relay setting
of 125% TMS = 0.6. It is connected to a supply circuit through a C.T. 400/5 ratio. The fault current is 4000 amps.

Solution: The pick up value of the relay is 5 amps but since the relay setting is 125%, therefore, the operating
current of the relay is 5 × 1.25 = 6.25 amps
The plug setting multiplier of the relay,

𝑆𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡
PSM = 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔

𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡)

= 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ×𝐶𝑇 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜

4000
= =8
6.25×80

From the standard 2.2 sec curve the operating time for PSM = 8 is 3.2 sec. Since the TMS is 0.6, the actual operating
time of the relay is 1.92 secs.
DIRECTIONAL OVER-CURRENT RELAY
The relay consists of two units:
(i) directional unit
(ii) non-directional or inverse time current unit.
The second unit is exactly the same as discussed in the previous section.

The torque developed by a directional unit is given by

T = VI cos (θ – τ) – K

where
V = r.m.s. magnitude of the voltage fed to the voltage coil circuit,
I = the r.m.s. magnitude of the current in current coil,
θ = the angle between I and V,
τ = the maximum torque angle (a design quantity), and
K = restraining torque including spring and friction.
Say for a particular installation (θ – τ) = constant K1; then the torque equation becomes
T = K1VI – K
Fig:3. Internal connection of Directional Over-Current Relay
Fig:4. Phasor diagram of Directional Relay
Fig:5. Polar Characteristics of Directional Relay
Example 14.2: A cable circuit with an impedance angle of 10° is to be protected by directional over current relays.
Specify the connection you use for the directional element and justify by actually working out the connections and
the maximum torque angle setting needed for the relay. Specify also the phase shifting network to be used if the
relay potential coil has an impedance of 1000 ∠ 60°. Assume a four-pole cup element for the directional element.

Solution:
For the cable the impedance angle under operating condition is 10°. With
30° connection the phase angle between Va and Vac is 30°. Vac lagging Va and,
therefore, Ia leads Vac by 20°. The relay quantities are current proportional to
Ia and voltage proportional to Vac for a fault on phase a.
In case of fault on phase a the voltage of this phase up to the relay point
becomes quite small and say the phase angle between Va and Vac becomes
50° instead of 30°; thereby the angle between Ia and Vac becomes 40°. The
phasor diagram.
Voltage Vac is applied to the potential coil which has an impedance angle of 60° and the position of
current Iv is shown in the phasor diagram. For torque to be maximum the angle between Ia and Iv
should be 90°; therefore, a capacitor of suitable value should be connected such that the impedance
angle becomes 50° rather than 60° as shown by a dotted phasor in the phasor diagram.
 The Universal Relay Torque Equation

Distance Relay
There types of Distance relays are there, they are:
(i) Impedance relays,
(ii) Reactance relays, and
(iii) Mho relays.
This means that the impedance relay will operate only if the impedance seen by the relay is less than a
prespecified value (design impedance). At threshold condition,
DIFFERENTIAL RELAY
➢ The differential relay is one that operates when the vector difference of two or more similar electrical
quantities exceeds a pre-determined value.

Fig:6. Basic Differential relay circuit

➢ The dotted line represents the equipment to be protected which may be a transformer, an alternator, a
bus etc. Two suitable CTs are connected in series as shown with the help of pilot wires.
➢ The voltage induced in the secondary of the CTs will circulate a current through the combined impedance of
the pilot wires and the CTs.
➢ When the operating coil of the relay is not connected between the equipotential points, even though the
current through each CT is same, the burden on the two CTs is unequal. This causes the heavily loaded CTs to
saturate during through fault, thereby causing dissimilarity in the characteristics of the two CTs which results in
maloperation of the relay.
For an internal fault, consider Fig. (a) when the circuit is fed from one end and Fig.(b) when the circuit is fed from
both the ends. It can be seen that in both the cases, a current will flow through the operating coil of the relay and it
will operate. This form of protection is known as Merz-Price protection.

Fig:7. Differential Protection for an Internal faults (a) fed from one end (b) fed from both ends
 The torque developed by the operating coil is proportional to the ampere-turns,

i.e., T0 ∝ (i1 – i2)n0,

where n0 is the number of turns in the operating coil.

The torque due to restraining coil

T ∝ (i1 + i2) nr/2 ,

where nr is the number of turns in the restraining coil.

 FEEDER PROTECTION
➢ The word feeder here means the connecting link between two circuits. The feeder could be in the form of a
transmission line, short, medium or long, or this could be a distribution circuit.
The various methods of protecting the feeders are:
1. Overcurrent protection.
2. Distance protection.
3. Pilot relaying protection.
➢ overcurrent protection is the simplest and cheapest form of protection. It is most difficult to apply and needs
readjustment, should a change in the circuit occur. This may even have to be replaced depending upon the circuit
conditions.

➢ Where distance protection is costly, overcurrent protection is used for phase and ground faults on station service,
electric utilities (distribution circuits) and on some sub-transmission lines. Overcurrent protection is normally used as
back up protection where the primary protection is provided with distance schemes.
The discrimination using overcurrent protection is achieved in the following ways:
(i) Time graded system.
(ii) Current graded system.
(iii) Time-current graded system.
Example 14.3: It is required to provide time-current grading for the following system:

Solution: The secondary current with maximum fault current at c is

Corresponding to this the operating time is 2.2 sec. If TMS = 0.1, the operating time of this relay = 2.2 × 0.1 = 0.22.
To achieve discrimination between relay at b and at c when the fault takes place just before c or just after c when
there is no change in fault current. Let the discriminating time between relays be 0.5 sec which includes the time
for operation of relay at c, the operation time of C.B. at c and over-travel of relay b. The operating time of relay at
b when fault takes place near c will be 0.22 + 0.5 = 0.72 sec.

The secondary current in the relay at location b when fault takes place near c will be

Assuming the current setting of relay 125%, the relay operating current will be 5 × 1.25 = 6.25 amp.

The operating time from the curve is 2.5 sec approx. The operating time of relay at b when graded w.r.t. relay
at c is 0.72 sec.
When fault is near b, the PSM with operating current 6.25 amp is

The operating time corresponding to this PSM = 2.2 sec. Actual operating time of relay at b = 2.2 × 0.29 = 0.638 sec
Since C.T. ratio at a is 400/5 which is high as compared to relay at b, therefore, the current discrimination is inherent. Let
the per cent setting of relay at a be 125%.
Protection of Parallel Feeders

➢ where two feeders are connected in parallel to increase the transmission capacity. The feeders are again
fed from one end.

➢ It is required that in case of a fault on any one of the feeders, that feeder should be isolated from the
supply and the load must receive power through the other healthy feeder.

Fig:8. Protection of Parallel Feeders

Protection of Ring Mains

Fig:9. (a) Ring Mains to be Protected (b) Ring Opened at A and spread (c) Ring opened at B and spread
and (d) Ring mains at Protective scheme
DISTANCE PROTECTION

➢ The protection scheme is divided in three zones.

➢ Say for relay at A, the three zones are Z1a, Z2a and Z3a. Z1a corresponds to approximately 80% length of the line AB and
is a high speed zone.
➢ No intentional time lag is provided for this zone.
➢ It is to be noted here that the first zone is extended only up to 80% and not 100% length of the line as the relay
impedance measurement will not be very accurate towards the end of the line especially when the current is offset.

Fig:10. 3-Zone Protection

Impedance Relay Protection

➢ If the impedance seen by the relay is less than its setting the relay operates.
➢ The impedance relays are non-directional relays and, therefore, need a directional relay with them.
➢ While designing the relays; it is usual to make maximum torque angle τ smaller than the impedance angle
of the line so that the effect of the arc resistance is reduced. The contact circuit for a 3-zone impedance
protection is shown in Fig.

Fig:11.(a) Impedance Characteristics for 3-Zone protection (b) Contact circuit for 3-Zone Impedance relay
Reactance Relay Protection
➢ A reactance relay responds only to the reactance component of the impedance.
➢ A reactance relay is a non-directional relay and the directional unit of the type used along with the impedance relay
cannot be used for the reasons discussed earlier.
➢ The mho unit prevents the operation of the reactance units under load conditions. Also it gives protection for the
3rd zone of the scheme.

Fig:12. (a) Characteristics of Reactance Relay for 3-Zone Protection (b) Contact circuit for 3-zone reactance Relay
MHO Relay Protection

➢ Mho relay, inherently being a directional relay, does not need additional unit for the purpose.

Fig:13.(a) Characteristics of MHO relay for 3-Zone Protection (b) Contact circuit for 3-Zone Protection.
GENERATOR PROTECTION
Various types faults that can occur on an alternator, they are;
1. Stator faults
2. Rotor Faults
3. Abnormal running conditions

Rotor Protection
The earth fault relays are instantaneous and are connected to the alarm circuit for indication as a single
ground fault does not require immediate attention to the set.

Fig:14.Rotor earth fault protection

Unbalanced Loading

• The negative sequence current segregating network is used, the output of which is proportional to the
generator negative phase sequence current and is fed into a relay with an inverse square law
characteristic, i.e., I2t = K or t ∝ 1/I2.

Fig:15.Negative sequence relay

Over Load protection

➢ This protection is for protect the generator from overheating due to overload on stator.

➢ The temperature of the winding not only depends upon the overloading but also on the state of the
cooling system, if the cooling system fails, the temperature of the stator winding may reach dangerous
values even though the alternator is not fully loaded.

Overspeed Protection

➢ The speed goes up whenever there is sudden loss of load i.e., there is sudden loss in output of the generator. This
reduction in output can be detected using a wattmetric relay at the generator terminals which operates
instantaneously to close its contacts.

➢ A second relay monitors the steam input to the turbines at a chosen stage and the contacts are held closed when
the steam pressure is in the full load region.
Over voltage Protection

➢ This protection is normally provided for hydroelectric and gas turbine generators and not for steam turbine
generators.

➢ The protection used is an a.c. over-voltage relay which has a pick-up value of 110% of the normal value and
operates instantaneously at about 130% to 150% of the rated voltage.

Failure of Prime Mover

➢ Whenever a prime mover fails, the generator connected to the system starts motoring; thereby it draws electrical
power from the system and drives the prime mover.
Loos of Excitation

Fig:16.Relay connected to loose of excitation

➢ The protection scheme uses an offset mho relay operated from a.c. current and voltage at the generator
terminals.

➢ The relay setting is so arranged that the relay operates whenever the excitation goes below a certain value and
the machine starts running asynchronously.
Stator Protection

Fig:17. Stator protection, Y-connection alternator Fig:18. Stator protection, Delta-connection alternator
Example 14.4: A 6.6 kV, 5 MVA star connected alternator has a reactance of 1.5 ohm per phase and negligible resistance.
Merz-Price protection scheme is used which operates when the out of balance current exceeds 25% of the full load
current. The neutral of the generator is grounded through a resistance of 8 ohms. Determine the proportion of the
winding which remains unprotected against earth fault. Show that the effects of the alternator reactance can be ignored.

Solution: First, we will show that the effect of the alternator reactance can be neglected. Since the reactance of the
winding is ∝ square of the number of turns, i.e., xG ∝ N2, let x% be the winding that remains unprotected. The number or
turns will be xN/100, i.e., the reactance will be proportional to x2N2/1002.
Example 14.5: An alternator rated at 10 kV protected by the balanced circulating current system has its neutral
grounded through a resistance of 10 ohms. The protective relay is set to operate when there is an out of balance
current of 1.8 amp in the pilot wires, which are connected to the secondary windings of 1000/5 ratio current
transformers. Determine (i) the per cent winding which remains unprotected, (ii) the minimum value of the earthing
resistance required to protect 80% of the winding. Ans. 0.3118 Ω.

Example 14.6: The figure above shows the percentage differential relay used for the protection of an alternator winding.
The relay has a minimum pick up current of 0.2 ampere and has a percentage slope of 10%. A high resistance ground
fault occurs near the grounded neutral end of the generator winding with the current distribution as shown. Assume a CT
ratio of 400 : 5; determine whether the relay will operate.
Protection of Transformers

➢ Transformers are normally protected against short circuits and over-heating.

➢ For short circuits normally percentage differential protection is recommended for transformers rated for
more than 1 MVA. For low rating overcurrent relaying is used.
➢ The differential protection scheme is considered to be suitable if it satisfies the two conditions:
(i) The relays must not operate under normal load conditions and for through fault (external fault)
conditions.
(ii) it must operate for severe enough internal fault conditions.

Fig:19. Ungrounded star-star Protection, through faults

Fig:20. Grounded star-star transformer protection, through faults
Fig:21. Transformer star-star grounded CT delta connection protection
Fig:22. Star-star grounded, internal faults.
Fig:23. Delta-star grounded transformer protection
Example 14.7: A 3-phase transformer rated for 33 kV/6.6 kV is connected star/delta and the protecting current
transformer on the low voltage side have a ratio of 400/5. Determine the ratio of the current transformer on the HV
side.

Solution: Since the LT side is delta connected, the CTs on that side will be star connected. Therefore, if 400 amps is the
line current, the CT secondary current is 5 amps. The line current on the star side of the power transformer will be
6.6
400 × = 80 amps
33
The CTs on the star side are delta connected and the current required on the relay side
of the CT is 5 amps. Therefore, the current in the CT secondary (phase current) is 5ൗ 3
The CT ratio on the HT side will be 80 : 5ൗ 3

Example 14.8: For a 10 MVA, 132 kV/6.6 kV power transformer with delta-star connections, obtain the number of
turns each current transformer should have, for the differential protection scheme to circulate a current of 5 A in
the pilot wires.
Buchholz Relay
➢ Whenever a fault takes place in a transformer the oil of the tank gets overheated and gases are formed.

➢ The generation of the gases may be slow or violent depending upon whether the fault is a minor or
incipient one or heavy short circuit.

➢ The generation of gas is used as a means of fault detection.

Fig:24. Buchholz Relay

 Translay Relay

Fig:25. Translay Relay for 1-Phase system

Whenever an internal fault occurs, current flows through the pilot wires because either one of the voltages has
reversed in polarity (if the feeder is fed from both the ends) or the voltage at one end has collapsed (if the feeder is fed
from one end only). The relay at an end will operate if there is current in its upper and lower coils and it will not
operate at an end with no primary current because there is current only in the lower coil. Under internal fault
condition since the pilot wire impedance is mostly resistive, the current through the pilot wire will be in phase with the
secondary voltage.
Carrier Current Protection
➢ Pilot wire protection is usually limited to circuits of length 10 miles or so. For longer overhead lines the
power line itself may be used as the channel between terminal equipments.
➢ The primary consideration is the coupling of the protective gear to the power line.
The signal is injected into the power line circuit as shown in Fig. 14.59 through the coupling capacitor. The signal
is generated by a transmitter consisting of an electronic oscillator and amplifier with an output usually of about
15 to 20 watts at a frequency between 50 and 500 kHz. Below 50 kHz the size and cost of the coupling
components would be too high; above 500 kHz the line losses and hence the signal attenuation would be too
great on long lines. 15 watts output has been considered to be sufficient from loss point of view for lines of
length 100 miles. Carrier current can be used only on overhead lines because the capacitance of a cable would
attenuate the carrier signals to ineffectual values.

Fig:26.Block diagram of equipment used in carrier phase comparision scheme

Comparator
➢ The phase relation and the amplitudes are a function of the system conditions.
➢ The device which makes these comparisons is known as a comparator and forms the heart of a relay.
➢ The comparator decides the operating characteristics of a relay.

Fig:27.General comparator Fig:28.Phasor diagram for comparator

Static Amplitude Comparators

Mainly there are three types of amplitude comparators:

(i) integrating comparators,
(ii) instantaneous comparators
(iii) sampling comparators.

Fig:29. Circulating current comparator

Fig:30.Rectifier bridge comparator with static output device
Fig:31.The opposed voltage comparator
Fig:32. Sampling comparator for reactance relay
Phase Comparator

➢ In this type of comparator, the operation of the relay takes place when the phase relation between two inputs S1
and S2 varies within certain specified limits.

➢ It is the phase relation between the signals that is mainly compared and an output is obtained which operates
the tripping relays.

➢ There are two types of phase comparators:

(i) Coincidence type

(ii) Vector product type.

Integrating phase comparator:

• The two signals S1 and S2 are fed into an AND gate the output of which is integrated to measure
the period of coincidence of the two signals.
• If period of coincidence exceeds 90°.
• The most common type of AND gate uses diode or transistor coincidence circuit as shown in Fig.

Fig:33. Integrated type phase comparator

Static Relays

➢ Transistor, diodes etc. are use to measure or compare the electrical quantities, to protect the these components
from abnormal conditions static relays are using.
➢ The static network is so designed that it gives an output signal in the tripping direction whenever a threshold
condition is reached.

➢ The output signal in turn operates a tripping device which may be electronic or electromagnetic.

➢ The need for the static relays arose because of the requirement of fast and reliable protective schemes for the
modern power systems which is growing both in complexity and fault levels.
➢ It is interesting to note that the static relays have first been commercially manufactured for the distance and
differential protective schemes whereas the much simpler overcurrent relays have not been brought out.

➢ The use of electronic valves for static relays was taken up by Fitzgerald in 1928 who presented a carrier
current protection scheme for the transmission line.

➢ Transductor relays are magnetic amplifier relays which consist of a control and operating winding.

➢ The control winding is energized with d.c. and the operating winding with a.c. The transductor relays are
mechanically very simple and are quite reliable.
Fig:34. Instantaneous Overcurrent Relay (a) Basic circuit (b) Block diagram of improved version (c) Detailed Circuit
Fig:35. Definite time over-current relay
Fig:36. Inverse time-current relay
Fig:37. Directional relay using rectifier bridge phase comparator
Fig:38. Static Differential Relay
Static Distance Relays

➢ Static distance relays since do not have moving parts, they operate much faster and without fear of incorrect tripping
as compared to electromagnetic relays.

➢ With semiconductor devices it is possible to obtain other distance characteristics than the traditional ones.

➢ Static distance relays are accurate over a wider range of fault currents and line lengths and require much lower
burden as compared to their counterparts in electromechanical relays.

Fig:39. Simplified impedance relay

DIGITAL PROTECTION

➢ With increase in interconnection of power system components, larger sizes of alternators and higher
capacity (Higher voltage) transmission lines it has become almost essential to operate the protective
relays and CBS as fast as possible to improve the transient stability of power system.

➢ The transients consist of a large number of harmonic currents and voltages besides the d.c. component.

➢ For protective relaying purposes, since it is the fundamental component of current and voltage that is required,
which should be extracted from the transients.

➢ Earlier analog filters were used which have an inherent large time delays.

➢ Digital filters play an important role in extracting the fundamental components from the transient in about half
a cycle.

➢ For this reason the digital protection relaying schemes have been developed which are fast in operation and
have a higher index of reliability.
Advantages of the Digital Relay

1. Flexibility : With the same hardware or slight modifications in the hardware, a variety of protection functions
viz. Various distance relay characteristics (ohm, mho, quadrilateral, parabolic etc.) can be obtained with suitable
changes in the software.

2. Lower Cost: With advancement in technology and higher level of competition in the manufacture of hardware
and software, will bring down the cost of these protective schemes.

3. Self Checking Capability: With the proper software control, most of the hardware faults can be diagnosed and
properly checked.

4. Digital Communication: The microprocessor based relay furnishes easy interface with digital communication
equipments.
Hardware Design : Fig. shows a simplified diagram of the microprocessor based distance relay. The data acquisition is
carried out after removing all the higher harmonics and d.c. transient by Butterworth active band pass (48–52 Hz) filter.
The band pass filter output is converted into digital signals by the sample and hold circuit using A/D converter and these
signals are fed into the input ports of the microprocessor. The sampling interval of the digital signals is set by a timer
which is also controlled by the same microprocessor. The work station which is used for this realisation is an Intel 8086 A
based system.

Fig:40. Block diagram of hardware system

Figure shows the scheme for segregating the sequence currents from the phase fault currents. Once the sequence currents
are obtain following logic is used to fix up the type of fault:
(i) If there is only positive sequence current and negative and zero sequence currents are absent it is a 3-¯ fault or
3-¯ to ground fault.
(ii) If all the three sequence are present and all are equal it is a L-G fault.
(iii) If all the three sequence currents are present and if Ia1 = − Ia2 + Ia0 it is a LLG fault.
(iv) If zero sequence is absent and positive and negative sequence currents are equal in magnitude it is a L-L fault.

Fig:35. Segregation of sequence currents from phase current

FUSES AND HRC FUSES
➢ A fuse is a small piece of wire connected in between two terminals mounted on insulated base and is connected in
series with the circuit.
➢ The fuse is expected to carry the normal working current safely without overheating and during overloads or
short circuits it gets heated up to melting point rapidly.
➢ The materials used normally are tin, lead, silver, zinc, aluminum, copper etc.
➢ Silver is found to be quite satisfactory as a fuse material because it is not subjected to oxidation and its oxide is
unstable.

➢ Fuse: Fuse is a device used in circuit for protecting electrical equipment's against overloads and/or short circuits.

➢ Fuse element or Fuse Wire: It is that part of the fuse device which melts when an excessive current flows in the
circuit and thus isolates the faulty device from the supply circuit.

➢ Minimum Fusing Current: Minimum fusing current is a value corresponding to operation in an arbitrary time
obtained under prescribed test conditions. Alternatively, it is a value of current corresponding to a chosen value of
time indicated on a time/current curve which is itself obtained from prescribed testing condition.

➢ Fuse Rating: It is that value of current which when flows through the element, does not melt it. This value of the
fuse is less than the minimum fusing current.
Fusing Factor: This is the ratio of minimum fusing current to the current rating of fusing element, i.e

Minimun 𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 current

Fusing 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝐹𝑢𝑠𝑒 rating

The fusing factor is always greater than unity.

Prospective Current: It is defined as the r.m.s. value of current which would flow in a circuit immediately following the
fuse when a short circuit occurs assuming that the fuse has been replaced by a link of negligible resistance.

Melting Time or Pre-arcing Time: The time taken from the instant the current that causes a break in the fuse wire
starts flowing, to the instant the arc is initiated.

Arcing Time: The time taken from the instant of arc initiation to the instant of arc being extinguished.

Total Operating Time: It is the sum of the pre-arcing and the arcing time. The most commonly used fuse in ‘house
wiring’ and small current circuits is the semi-enclosed or rewireable fuse.
Construction of HRC Fuse

➢ The HRC fuse consists of a ceramic body usually of steatite, pure silver element, clean silica quartz, asbestos
washers, porcelain plugs, brass end-caps and copper tags.
➢ The brass end-caps and copper tags are electro-tinned.
➢ The assembly also includes solder of various types, cement and indicator devices.

Fig:36. HRC fuse link

Fuse Operation

When an HRC fuse operates, the element absorbs energy from the circuit and heats until it melts. The heat produced
during operation is given by

න i2R dt

where R is the instantaneous resistance

i the instantaneous current during the operating time.

• The fuse element melts before the fault current reaches its peak value. As the element melts, it vaporizes and
disperses.

• This action is then followed by a period of arcing during which chemical reaction between the silver vapour and
the quartz powder takes place, which further results into building up a high resistance and reduces the current to
zero.

• Thus the arc is quenched. Generally, the filling powder used is quartz-sand as it can absorb heat at a very high rate
and it does not evolve appreciable amount of gas.
Properties of HRC Fuses

1. Fast operation
2. Rupturing capacity
3. Non-deterioration
4. Low temperature operation
5. Accurate discrimination

Arc Voltage within Safe Limits: Whenever an inductive circuit is inter-rupted, there is likelihood of large
voltages induced. The magnitude of such voltages depend upon the magnitude of the short circuit to be
interrupted and the circuit constants. A careful design of the HRC fuse controls these over-voltages and keeps
them within safe limits.

Low Cost: It is known that because of the cut-off characteristics of the HRC fuse, for the same rupturing
capacity the actual current to be interrupted by an HRC fuse is much less as compared to any other
interrupting device and hence it is less expensive as compared to other interrupting devices. It is, therefore,
usual to employ a circuit breaker of low rupturing capacity backed up by an HRC fuse where circuit breakers
are necessary for other reasons. A combination of these two circuit interrupting devices works as follows.
Whenever there is an overload the CB trips whereas for short circuits the HRC fuse operates.
Applications of HRC Fuses
The applications of HRC fuses are enormous but a few very important are:

(i) Protection of cables,

(ii) Protection of bus bars,

(iii) Protection of industrial distribution system,

(iv) Contactor gear for motor control,

(v) Earth faults—both of low and high magnitude,

(vi) Semiconductor rectifiers

(vii) Aircraft.
LINEAR COUPLER

• The protective relays are normally not connected directly to the system but these are connected through
current and/or potential transformers.
• With this, the relays have to handle smaller magnitudes of voltages and currents and, therefore, the
protective relays become relatively cheaper.

Current transformer
• The primary winding of a current transformer is connected in series with the circuit whose current is to be
sensed and across the secondary of the current transformer, the operating coil of the relay is connected.
• The current transformers used in protection are usually primary bar i.e., these have one turn of primary
winding i.e., the conductor of the circuit itself forms the primary of the current transformer.

Where n is ratio of number of secondary turns to number primary turns

 The ratio error is defined as

𝑁𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 − 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑛 − 𝑅

=
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑅

The phase angle error is defined as

The percentage composite error is defined as

Fig:37. Phasor diagram of current transformer

where n = nominal transformation ratio, is = instantaneous secondary current, ip = instantaneous primary current, Ip =
r.m.s. value of primary current, and T = time period of current wave.
• The B-H curve of a magnetic material is, in general, given by the
curve as shown in Fig. Between the points A (Ankle point) and B
(Knee point) the characteristic is linear.
• If the same stampings are used both for the protective CTS and
the measuring CTS, the working range of the protective CT lies
between the ankle and the knee point (as a protective CT is
expected to transform primary currents linearly on to the
secondary side for a relatively large range of currents about 20
times the full load currents) of the characteristic whereas the
measuring CT usually operates at a point around the ankle point
as the measuring CT is expected to be accurate up to its 120%
rated current only.
• Therefore, if the same material is used for both the CTS i.e., for
protective and measuring CTS, it is quite obvious that for the
same volt amperes ratings, the protective CT would require
Fig:38. B-H curve of protecting and measuring
larger cross-section and this would be bigger in size.
current transformer
Potential transformer

• The potential transformer is similar in construction to the power transformer. The main difference
between the two is that whereas the secondary current in the power transformer depends upon the
loading conditions, the current in the potential transformer equals its magnetizing current.
• The errors introduced by potential transformers are, in general less serious as compared to the current
transformers.

The ratio error

Phase angle error

Fig:39. Phasor diagram of potential transformer

In order to bring down the errors of the potential transformers

(i) the flux density in the core should be as low as possible.

(ii) the reluctance of the transformer core should be as low as possible.

(iii) the leakage reactance of the two windings should be made small by placing the two windings as close
together as is consistent with insulation requirements.

(iv) The resistance of the winding should be made small.

(v) Turns compensation should be done by adjusting the number of primary and secondary turns so that ‘n’
is less than the nominal ratio.

Mainly there are two types of potential transformers:

(i) The instrument potential transformers,

(ii) The capacitance potential transformer or potential divider. The instrument potential transformer is a
conventional two winding.
• The instrument potential transformer is a conventional two winding transformer in which primary is connected to
the system directly between phase and ground or between two phases as the case may be and the secondary is
connected to the voltage coil of a relay.
• A capacitance potential transformer is a capacitance potential divider connected between phase and ground of
the power circuit.
• The capacitance potential devices used for protective relaying are of two types
(i) the coupling capacitor potential device and
(ii) the bushing potential device.
• The two devices are more or less similar electrically, the main difference being in the formation of the
capacitances which in turn affects their rated burden.

Fig:40. Capacitive potential transformer

 Example 14.10: A 100/5A bar primary current transformer supplies an over current relay set at 25% pick up and it has
a burden of 5 VA. Determine the knee point voltage and cross-section of the core if the CT has 50 turns on its
secondary and the fault current is 15 times the relay setting. Assume the flux density as 1.4 Wb/m2.

Solution: The operating current of the relay = 5 × 0.25 = 1.25 Amp.

The CT secondary voltage when current is 15 times the relay setting = 15 × 4 = 60 volts.
The knee voltage must be slightly greater than 60 volts.

Example 14.11: Determine the VA output of a current transformer having a ratio of 100 : 5 and secondary
resistance of 0.1 ohm. The resistance of the connecting lead is 0.1 ohm and the relay burden is 5 VA.
Solution: Here output voltages are 52 (0.1 + 0.1) + 5 = 10 VA. Ans.